Live Underway - 13.4.2013, 00:04hrs - 2,132nm to go til Waypoint Galapagos
Andromeda
Michael
Sat 13 Apr 2013 06:46
Live Underway
13.4.2013, 00:04hrs
2,132nm to go til Waypoint Galapagos, approx 850nm SW of Galapagos
This is already the sixth day underway! And the days are already beginning to blend into one another. Though the anticipated serenity has not set in yet.
The days are flying by, always more than enough to do, and unfortunately, also almost everyday with something breaking! I should be used to this boat phenomena by now, but I keep finding it perplexing every time again..
The trip had started with a beautiful day, leaving San Cristobal at noon on Sunday. On the way SW Michael wittingly placed our course over a sea mountain, and approaching same, we got a hit on our fishing line. The plan had been to go spear fishing for some provisioning, but having caught a 50lbs Wahoo, it was not necessary at all. The guys went in anyway, mainly for the thrill of it. But the visibility wasn't great, though the shallowest spot was only 20 feet. If we'd spent more time, we surely could have found more fish, as two big sea lions were hunting at the same spot.
A long way to swim for them. No wonder all they do is sleep when we see them ashore!
Some of them seem to be a bit smarter, though. Getting ready to weigh anchor in San Cristobal included taking in all the sea lion barriers. The whole maneuver didn't take long, but we were both, puzzled and amused, when we discovered already 45 min offshore a sea lion having a snooze on our step! Wondering if he knowingly hitched a ride on a moving platform.
Around the Galapagos, we kept seeing schools of dolphins, some in the distance, a few times playing in front of our bow. The most amazing and magical time was right after darkness had settled in. The seas were rich of fluorescent plankton, and once again, Andromeda appeared like a comet in the water, with two brightly lit traces formed by the hulls gliding through the water. Very fortunate, I heard some sounds at the bow and was stunned to see equally lit dolphins playing with the bow. We could see each of there movements, with the fluorescence outlining their flawless shaped bodies, living glowing trails behind them. Falling behind, speeding up, going further down and back up, in slalom, and every now and then one coming with high speed from some distance, giving a torpedo like appearence with it's glowing trace in the water. We all stood on the trampolines, watching in awe at this truly amazing spectacle.
The next two days we spent reorganizing ourselves, Andromeda and the produce we had gotten at the market - fresh food for four - for roundabout 3 weeks! Quite impressive amounts...
After the first truly relaxing day at sea, I thought how wonderful it would be if this trip could pass without any incidents. And I would already have to look up the right order of the instants, but not long til things started happening again. First, a shekel from the main halyard broke, causing the main to fall down in a big hiss - again! Then a part of the block of the downhaul broke. This constant up and down in these wavy seas, 24h/day, combined relatively strong winds and therefore lot of pressure on the material really wear on them. At another, this time man made mishap, a blade of the wind generator broke off! Fortunately, Michael and Stevie managed to fix it the next day, and it has been working and generating its share of amps since. And tonight, again, just after sunset, it happened again: the new main halyard broke! One of us will have to make another investigative trip up the mast, cause something must be clearly chafing it. So far, it seems unexplainable though what that might be. And we're still playing detectives at a leak somewhere in the starboard hull, making the bilge pump go off. In very irregular intervals. We had already thought 3 times that we found the reason, but last night, in rather rough wavy weather, it must have gone off around 10 times, its alarm waking on or the other, when the watchmen couldn't turn it off in time.
But despite all that (none of that being extremely bad anyway, fortunately) we are all happy and healthy on board, each finding their own way in settling into this new routine.
2,130nm more to go! Hoping for a pleasant and relaxed continuation - and to arrive within the 3 weeks average. All looks good for that, so far!
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